Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1887-07-30

then all or q sudden, on Ulle fnOTHlHS VI tHo
18th of December, came the news of the proc
iamaticn of the republic, and the town was
thrown into ferment, and there was a talk
of going into laager, and, anxious as she was
to get away, Jess could see no hope of return
ing to the farm till the excitement was over
Then day OF two later Conductor Egerton
came limping into Pretoria from the scene of
the disaster at Bronker's Spruit, with the col
ors of the Ninety fourth regiment tied round
his middle, and such tale to tell that the
blood went to her heart and seemed to stag
nate there as she listened to it.
And after that there was confusion worse
confounded Martial law was proclaimed,
and the town, which was large, Struggling
and incapable of defense, was abandoned, the
inhabitants being ordered into laager on the
high ground overlooking the city. There
they WERE young and old, sick and well, deli
cate women and little children, all crowded
together in the open under the cover of the
fort. with nothing but canvas tents, wagons
and sheds to shelter them from the fierce sum-
mer suns and rains. jess had to share
wagon with her friend and her friends sister
and mother and found it rather tight fit
even to lie down. Sleep, with all the noises
of the camp going on round her, was prac-
tical impossibility.
1t was about 3 o'clock on the day following
that first miserable night i'll the laager when,
by the last mail that passed into Pretoria, she
got Bessie's letter announcing her engage
ment to John. She took her letter and went
some way from the camp to the side of Signal
Hill, where she was not likely to be disturbed,
and, finding a nook shaded in by mimosa
trees, sat down and broke the envelope. Be-
fore she had got to the foot of the first page she
saw what was coming and set her teeth. Then
she reed the long letter through from begin
ming to end without riinchlng, though the
words of affection seemed to burn her. So it
had come at last Well, she expected it, and
had plotted to bring it about, so really there
was 10 reason in the world why she should
feel disappointed. On the contrary, she
ought to rejoice, and for a little while she
really did rejoice in her sisters happiness. 1t
made her happy to think that Bessie, whom
she dearly loved, was happy.
And yet she felt engry with John with that
sort of anger which we feel against those who
have blindly injured us. Why should he
have it in his power to hurt her SO? Still she
hoped that he would be happy with Bessie,
and then she hoped that these wretched
Beers would take Pretoria, and that she
would be shot or put out of the way some
how She had no heart for life; all the color
had faded from her sky. What was she to
do with herself? She would not stop ON the
farm after John and Bessie were married;
she was quite clear as to that; nor, if she
ceuld avoid it, would she return there before
they we're married. She would see him no
more, no more! Alas, that she had ever seen
him.
| Feeling somewhat happier, or at any rate
calmer, in this determination, she rose to re-
however, by making u detour toward the
Heidelberg road, for she was anxious to be as
long alone as she could She had been walk
ing some ten minutes when she caught sight
of a cart that seemed familiar to her, with
three horses harnesSed in front of it and one
tied on behind, which were also familiar
There were a lot of men walking alongside of
the cart, all talking eagerly. She halted to
let the little procession so by, when suddenly
she perceived John Mel among the men and
recognized the Zulu Mouti on the box. There
was the man whom she had just vowed never
to see again, and the sight Of him seemed to
/ take all her strength out of her. so that she
felt inclined to sink involuntarily upon the
/ veldt His sudden appearance was almost
/ uncanny in the sharpness of its illustration of
her impotence in the hands of fate She felt
| it them all in an instant it seemed to be borne
| in upon her mind that she could not help her.
self, but was only the instrument in the
hands of a superior power whose will she was
fulfilling through the workings of her passion
and to whom her individual fate was matter
of little moment. 1t was inconclusive rea-
soning and perilous doctrine but it must be
allowed that the circumstances gave it the
color of truth. And, after all, the border
line between fatalism and free will has never
;kot,,, Nv,
St Paul, so perhaps she was right Mankind
does not like to admit it, but it is at the least,
a question whether we can oppose our little
wills against the forces of the universal law
or derange the details of the unvarying plan
to suit the petty wants and hopes of individ-
ual mortality jess was clever woman but
it would take wiser head than hers to know
where or when to draw that red line across
the writings of our life.
On came the cart and the knot Of men, and
then suddenly John looked up and saw her
looking at him with those dark eyes that did,
indeed, seem at times as though they were the
windows of her SOUL He turned and said
something to his companions and to the Zulu
| Mouti, who went on with the cart, and then
came toward her smiling and with out
| stretched hand.
"How do you do, Jessr he said. $50 have
! found you all rightp
! She took his hand and answered, almost
angrily, "Why have you come? Why did you
| leave Bessie and my unclep
| ~ came because was sent and also be-
,ause wished to. WANTED to get you back
| home before Pretoria was besieged."
"You must have been mad! How could
you expect to get backa We shall both be
| hut up here together now"
$50 it appears. Well, things might be
worse" he added, cheerfully.
Il do not think that anything could be
worse" she answered, with a stamp of her
foot, and then, quite thrown off her balance,
burst incontinently into flood of tears
John Mel was very simple minded man,
and it never struck him to attribute her grief
| to any other cause than anxiety at the state